INTRODUCTION
This shortcode will access the Greater New York Region Root Server. It will display the entire ASC meeting list for the Lower Hudson Valley ASC. This is a very small ASC that only has a few meetings. Displaying the interactive meeting search (the standard
shortcode) is not really optimal. Folks would much rather see a simple table.
We’ll give them that. We’ll also use evil <table> elements, as opposed to <div> elements. These examples all use the following shortcode:
[<i></i>[bmlt_simple(1339674838##-##switcher=GetSearchResults&services=1045)]]
. We simply have them wrapped in different class elements, so we can selectively add styles. Each of these is a “live” rendering from the Greater New York Region server. That means that this page will load slowly. Can’t be helped.
Garrison, NY, 10524, USA | A New Start | 7:00 PM | Sunday | Graymoor (off Rt. 9), 40 Franciscan Way (4th Floor Conference Room. Go all the way up the hill. Use Giftshop/Bookstore entrance.) | O,BT,IW,RF,WC,BK,WEB,TC,VM | Wappingers, NY, 12590 | Keep Hope Alive | 7:30 PM | Monday | Zion Episcopal Church, 12 Saterlee Pl. | O,B | Brewster, NY, 10509, USA | Step It Up | 7:30 PM | Wednesday | St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 31 Prospect Street (In rectory building across from church. NO SMOKING IN ANY AREAS ON OR NEAR CHURCH GROUNDS) | C,Rr,WEB,TC,VM | Wappingers, NY, 12590 | Miracles Happen | 7:30 PM | Wednesday | Mt. Alvernia Retreat Center, Delavergne Ave. | O,St,RA | Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA | Yorktown Recovery | 7:30 PM | Thursday | First Presbyterian Church, 2880 Crompond Road | C,IP,WC,BK | Brewster, NY, 10509, USA | Step It Up | 7:30 PM | Friday | St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 31 Prospect Street (In rectory building across from church. NO SMOKING ON OR NEAR CHURCH GROUNDS) | C,Rr,WEB,TC,VM | Pawling, NY, 12594 | Practicing Principles In Pawling | 11:00 AM | Saturday | The Lutheran Church of Christ the King, 18 Pine Drive (Intersection of Route 22) | SD,St,BK,WEB,HY | Katonah, NY, 10536 | Just for Tonight | 7:30 PM | Saturday | First Presbyterian Church, 31 Bedford Rd. | JT,SD,WEB,TC,VM |
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Now, this is pretty basic, but it has a lot of “noise.” For example, we don’t need to display the state and zip codes. People know where the towns are (it’s for a local constituency). Let’s hide those with CSS.
We add the following CSS to the site CSS:
div#bmlt_simple_shortcode_demo_div table#lhv_demo_layout_table_2 span.c_comdef_search_results_province,
div#bmlt_simple_shortcode_demo_div table#lhv_demo_layout_table_2 span.c_comdef_search_results_nation,
div#bmlt_simple_shortcode_demo_div table#lhv_demo_layout_table_2 span.c_comdef_search_results_zip
{
display:none;
}
Garrison, NY, 10524, USA | A New Start | 7:00 PM | Sunday | Graymoor (off Rt. 9), 40 Franciscan Way (4th Floor Conference Room. Go all the way up the hill. Use Giftshop/Bookstore entrance.) | O,BT,IW,RF,WC,BK,WEB,TC,VM | Wappingers, NY, 12590 | Keep Hope Alive | 7:30 PM | Monday | Zion Episcopal Church, 12 Saterlee Pl. | O,B | Brewster, NY, 10509, USA | Step It Up | 7:30 PM | Wednesday | St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 31 Prospect Street (In rectory building across from church. NO SMOKING IN ANY AREAS ON OR NEAR CHURCH GROUNDS) | C,Rr,WEB,TC,VM | Wappingers, NY, 12590 | Miracles Happen | 7:30 PM | Wednesday | Mt. Alvernia Retreat Center, Delavergne Ave. | O,St,RA | Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA | Yorktown Recovery | 7:30 PM | Thursday | First Presbyterian Church, 2880 Crompond Road | C,IP,WC,BK | Brewster, NY, 10509, USA | Step It Up | 7:30 PM | Friday | St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 31 Prospect Street (In rectory building across from church. NO SMOKING ON OR NEAR CHURCH GROUNDS) | C,Rr,WEB,TC,VM | Pawling, NY, 12594 | Practicing Principles In Pawling | 11:00 AM | Saturday | The Lutheran Church of Christ the King, 18 Pine Drive (Intersection of Route 22) | SD,St,BK,WEB,HY | Katonah, NY, 10536 | Just for Tonight | 7:30 PM | Saturday | First Presbyterian Church, 31 Bedford Rd. | JT,SD,WEB,TC,VM |
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That’s nice, but the gridlines are kinda fugly. Let’s replace them with alternating backgrounds.
We add the following CSS to the site CSS:
div#bmlt_simple_shortcode_demo_div table#lhv_demo_layout_table_3 table,
div#bmlt_simple_shortcode_demo_div table#lhv_demo_layout_table_3 tr,
div#bmlt_simple_shortcode_demo_div table#lhv_demo_layout_table_3 td
{
border:none;
}
div#bmlt_simple_shortcode_demo_div table#lhv_demo_layout_table_3 tr.bmlt_alt_0
{
background-color:#efefef;
}
Garrison, NY, 10524, USA | A New Start | 7:00 PM | Sunday | Graymoor (off Rt. 9), 40 Franciscan Way (4th Floor Conference Room. Go all the way up the hill. Use Giftshop/Bookstore entrance.) | O,BT,IW,RF,WC,BK,WEB,TC,VM | Wappingers, NY, 12590 | Keep Hope Alive | 7:30 PM | Monday | Zion Episcopal Church, 12 Saterlee Pl. | O,B | Brewster, NY, 10509, USA | Step It Up | 7:30 PM | Wednesday | St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 31 Prospect Street (In rectory building across from church. NO SMOKING IN ANY AREAS ON OR NEAR CHURCH GROUNDS) | C,Rr,WEB,TC,VM | Wappingers, NY, 12590 | Miracles Happen | 7:30 PM | Wednesday | Mt. Alvernia Retreat Center, Delavergne Ave. | O,St,RA | Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA | Yorktown Recovery | 7:30 PM | Thursday | First Presbyterian Church, 2880 Crompond Road | C,IP,WC,BK | Brewster, NY, 10509, USA | Step It Up | 7:30 PM | Friday | St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 31 Prospect Street (In rectory building across from church. NO SMOKING ON OR NEAR CHURCH GROUNDS) | C,Rr,WEB,TC,VM | Pawling, NY, 12594 | Practicing Principles In Pawling | 11:00 AM | Saturday | The Lutheran Church of Christ the King, 18 Pine Drive (Intersection of Route 22) | SD,St,BK,WEB,HY | Katonah, NY, 10536 | Just for Tonight | 7:30 PM | Saturday | First Presbyterian Church, 31 Bedford Rd. | JT,SD,WEB,TC,VM |
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OK, now let’s relax the font a bit. Since we’re using <table> elements, we’re already going to Hell. Let’s have some fun on the way:
We add the following CSS to the site CSS:
div#bmlt_simple_shortcode_demo_div table#lhv_demo_layout_table_4
{
font-family:"Papyrus";
font-size:small;
}
Garrison, NY, 10524, USA | A New Start | 7:00 PM | Sunday | Graymoor (off Rt. 9), 40 Franciscan Way (4th Floor Conference Room. Go all the way up the hill. Use Giftshop/Bookstore entrance.) | O,BT,IW,RF,WC,BK,WEB,TC,VM | Wappingers, NY, 12590 | Keep Hope Alive | 7:30 PM | Monday | Zion Episcopal Church, 12 Saterlee Pl. | O,B | Brewster, NY, 10509, USA | Step It Up | 7:30 PM | Wednesday | St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 31 Prospect Street (In rectory building across from church. NO SMOKING IN ANY AREAS ON OR NEAR CHURCH GROUNDS) | C,Rr,WEB,TC,VM | Wappingers, NY, 12590 | Miracles Happen | 7:30 PM | Wednesday | Mt. Alvernia Retreat Center, Delavergne Ave. | O,St,RA | Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA | Yorktown Recovery | 7:30 PM | Thursday | First Presbyterian Church, 2880 Crompond Road | C,IP,WC,BK | Brewster, NY, 10509, USA | Step It Up | 7:30 PM | Friday | St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 31 Prospect Street (In rectory building across from church. NO SMOKING ON OR NEAR CHURCH GROUNDS) | C,Rr,WEB,TC,VM | Pawling, NY, 12594 | Practicing Principles In Pawling | 11:00 AM | Saturday | The Lutheran Church of Christ the King, 18 Pine Drive (Intersection of Route 22) | SD,St,BK,WEB,HY | Katonah, NY, 10536 | Just for Tonight | 7:30 PM | Saturday | First Presbyterian Church, 31 Bedford Rd. | JT,SD,WEB,TC,VM |
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This shows how we can apply some simple CSS to the most basic <table>-based layout to provide an attractive (ahem -in the eye of the beholder) and simple layout that looks exactly like it was coded directly into the page HTML.
NOTE FOR ANTI-TABLE ZEALOTS: You can certainly do this kind of thing without using <table> elements, but tables were developed to display tabular data. These meeting searches certainly qualify as “tabular data,” and provide a near-perfect example of the type of thing for which tables were developed.
Don’t be one of these people who’s only tool is a hammer. The right tool for the job.